INTRODUCTION:

The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences' Lake Wheeler Road Field Laboratory (LWRFL) is a diverse and heavily used field laboratory. Of a total of 1,474 acres, 903 are used for teaching, research and extension programs, with the balance in natural areas. The LWRFL provides specialized teaching facilities for students studying poultry, swine, dairy and beef cattle, biological sciences, ecology, environmental sciences and air quality. The Lake Wheeler Road facilities are used in educational programs for the departments of Animal Science, Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Botany, Crop Science, Entomology, Plant Pathology, Poultry Science, Soil Science and Zoology as well as the Biological Sciences program in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and by the colleges of Forest Resources and Veterinary Medicine. Undergraduate 4-year baccalaureate students and 2-year associate degree students taking more than 25 academic courses use the field laboratory. Additional students use the Biological Field Laboratory and adjacent wooded areas at Yates Mill Pond in their studies of fisheries, wildlife and ecology. Graduate students conduct research at the Lake Wheeler Road Field Laboratory, and students from the College of Veterinary Medicine use animals at this site for educational and clinical studies. The future Yates Mill Park and Education Center at the LWRFL, being developed jointly with the Wake County Parks and Recreation Department, the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the City of Raleigh, promises to become one of NC State's most visited outdoor laboratories by K-12 students and the general public.

Agriculture and the life sciences instruction requires that students be involved in the learning process by participating in laboratories that provide hands-on experiences. The various educational units at the LWRFL serve as the laboratory setting for a large number of courses in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and other colleges. During the 1998-99 academic year, more than 40 courses with a combined enrollment of more than 2,000 students utilized LWRFL sites more than 400 times. It is extremely important that students in such courses have field experiences that relate directly to their instruction and provide them with the technology and training necessary to be fully competent in their field of endeavor. As part of the mandate to provide quality experiential learning opportunities, NC State University must have a way to transport students from campus to the educational units at the LWRFL. The transportation system must be convenient, reliable and available within a time frame consistent with the instruction period of the different laboratory classes.

One significant public outreach program conducted each year at the LWRFL is Farm Animal Days. The purpose of this program is to provide a positive image of animal agriculture to the general public, to allow teachers to bring children to the LWRFL, and to provide educational materials to teachers, parents and children. Invitations are sent to all Wake County elementary schools, pre-schools and libraries, as well as to the home schooler's newsletter. Farm Animal Days is designed for children up to the age of first grade, but all visitors are welcome. Farm Animal Days in 1999 set a new attendance record. There were 9,013 people who signed in, and several busloads that did not; making the actual attendance around 9,160. Thirty percent of the visitors were adults, and an educational handout was distributed to them containing information about the Animal Science Department, the college and the animals. The children enjoyed seeing a cow and goat being milked, receiving Got Milk? stickers, touching rabbits and pigs, taking home some wool, and climbing on tractors. More than 5,000 children took home agricultural coloring books provided by the North Carolina Farm Bureau and received free ice cream from the Food Science Department. This event provides a tremendous amount of public education, agricultural awareness and goodwill.

In addition to its use in formal courses and public outreach, the LWRFL is extremely valuable to undergraduate students for providing hands-on research and extension experiences to enhance their education and to substantially increase their competitiveness in the employment marketplace upon graduation. The proximity of the LWRFL to campus enables undergraduates to engage in field-oriented research and extension programs, which are especially beneficial for those interested in agriculture-oriented careers. Research is an integral part of every graduate degree program, and many graduate students' research projects depend on the nearness of the land and facilities located at this field laboratory. Frequent visits are generally required to implement research and collect data.

The Lake Wheeler Road Field Laboratory is also the site of numerous events sponsored by the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service. LWRFL facilities are used for workshops and training sessions for extension specialists and agents and for field days for producers of various crops.

Due to urban pressures at other university field laboratories — particularly the Reedy Creek Road, Turfgrass and Varsity Drive field laboratories — various animal facilities now located at these field labs will have to be moved to the LWRFL in the near future. Consolidation of these facilities with similar units at LWRFL should result in savings through increased operational efficiencies. These additions to the LWRFL will make it even more difficult to maintain adequate open spaces for large events, such as Farm Animal Days.

Several programs at the LWRFL are under space constraints, which could be significantly relieved through acquisition of land adjacent to current property boundaries. It is, therefore, of great strategic importance that the university acquire any new land that becomes available contiguous to the LWRFL that will allow expansion and more efficient and effective use. The age of LWRFL's facilities has necessitated placing priority for current funding on repairing and renovating buildings and updating and replacing equipment in order to protect the public investment in these facilities. It is vitally important that students have these learning experiences in up-to-date, safe facilities with equipment similar to that currently used by various segments of the agricultural and life science industries.

Expansion of these facilities is needed to allow the LWRFL to reach its full potential for providing NC State students and other clientele hands-on educational experience and training, enhancing public outreach activities and making significant contributions to increasing the efficiency and diversification of North Carolina agriculture.

Conclusion

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences faculty members must have access to field laboratories if they are to carry out the college's teaching, research and extension missions. It is particularly important for Academic Programs that field laboratory space be located close enough to campus that visits to laboratory facilities may be scheduled within the framework of the university's regular class schedule. We believe this plan takes into consideration the competing demands of urban growth on state-owned land and makes the best use of the land available to the university. Under this plan, the college's animal-related activities will be consolidated at the Lake Wheeler Road site. With this consolidation, the college will be able to provide its students with the best possible preparation to enter various fields associated with animal agriculture, which is an increasingly important segment of North Carolina's agricultural economy. The Lake Wheeler Road Field Laboratory will not be devoted solely to animal agriculture, however. We believe this plan provides the facilities the college will need to provide the best possible educational, research and extension opportunities across the agriculture and life sciences spectrum well into the 21st century.